The Reapers are Closer
by Ben Webster
Summary: Shepard and Davenport stopped the invasion, for now. But when an unknown ship appears, everything turns hard to port...ME2 novelization. Shep/Liara, OC/Ash/Miranda
1. Interruption of Duty

_**DISCLAIMER**_

I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT. BIOWARE HAS THAT PRILIEDGE. THIS IS MADE PURELY FOR MY OWN BENEFIT AND FOR THOSE THAT READ IT. NO PROFIT IS MADE FROM THIS STORY.

The _Normandy_ was a hive of activity as she came out of FTL in the Amada System. Commander Shepard was in his quarters reading through his orders from the council, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, and a private message.

"Co_mmander, following your efforts in the Verge, you are ordered to take the Normandy to the Amada system and investigate the loss of 3 ships. We believe they have been attacked and destroyed by Geth Forces. You are to use all necessary force to remove them from the area. I repeat all necessary force. Hackett out" _

"_Mike, I'm sorry I haven't written you in ages. Hackett's got me in charge of a force of cruiser's and frigates. We're doing the same thing you are, Search and Rescue. No sign of anything yet. I hear you're nearby. Well you know, if you need a hand I can be there in a couple of hours. Tell the crew I'm thinking of them…in my nice new ship…that has its own personal shower in the CO quarters. I'll see you soon….brother"_

"Pressly you have the bridge. Keep me informed if anything changes, is that understood?" Shepard ordered into the mike.

"Yes sir," Pressly replied.

On the bridge, Joker went through the routine for exiting FTL.

"Disengaging FTL drives. Emission Sinks Active. Board is green we are running silent." Joker was always happy to fly, and this mission was not a problem to him. Others however, were not so laid back.

"We're wasting our time. Four days searching up and down this sector, and we haven't found any sign of Geth activity," Pressly said looking over the navigational information, along with the sensor data. Joker replied in more intelligent way.

"Three ships went missing here in the past month. Something happened to them"

Pressly was not impressed.

"My money's on slavers. Terminus systems are crawling with them."

Before either of them could respond, Ensign Thomas spoke up.

"Picking up something on the long range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Hmmmm, looks like a cruiser"

"Doesn't match any known signatures" Joker replied.

"Joker, continue on mission. Commander, an unidentified ship has entered system. May be what we're looking for." Pressly radioed down to Shepard.

Shepard was immediately up and getting his Colossus VIII armour on. However before he could grab his weapon, the _Normandy _shook violently, and Joker's voice was piped into his speakers: "Kinetic Barriers Down! Weapons offline! Somebody get that fire out!" Shepard immediately made his way to the emergency beacon and began making preparations to abandon ship. Liara came running up behind him, already in her Phoenix X armour and her helmet on her head.

"Shepard!"

"Distress beacon is ready for launch"

"Will the Alliance get here in time?"

"The _St. Helens _is nearby. And the Alliance won't abandon us. We just need to hang on. Just one final command to issue. ALL HANDS, THIS IS THE COMMANDER. ABANDON SHIP. ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP. Get everyone into the escape shuttles"

"Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship. I'm not leaving either."

"I need you to get everyone off this ship, Liara. I'll handle Joker"

"Shepard…"

"Liara go. Please."

"…Aye-aye"

With that Liara run to the escape shuttles, while Shepard launched the beacon and made his way to the bridge. He could hear Joker trying to get help on any frequency.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!MAYDAY! This is _SSV Normandy_! We have suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy! Come baby hold together, HOLD TOGETHER!"

_**Why hasn't Jason replied?**_ Shepard thought as he made his way to the command deck and saw just how dead his beloved _Normandy _was.

There was a hole in the roof of the ship, about 16 foot long and 7 foot wide. The Galaxy map was ruined and seats were floating throughout the ship. Shepard knew that the crew that had manned them were dead the moment the attack began. He looked down to the bridge and saw that the kinetic barrier was up, meaning that Joker still had gravity.

_**We don't have long, the Normandy is gonna collapse soon,**_ Shepard though as he entered the Bridge.

"Come on, Joker! We have to get out of here!"

"NO! I won't abandon the _Normandy!_ I can still save her!"

"The _Normandy's _lost. Going down with the ship won't change that"

"Yeah your right…help me up"

Before Shepard could take a step forward, the remains of the ship were bathed in a yellow light as the enemy cruiser came about…to finish the job.

Shepard wasted no more time. He grabbed Joker, ignoring his complaint, and nearly threw him into the Bridge escape pod. However, before he could enter himself, the enemy ship fired and the _Normandy _shook and started to break apart. Shepard was flung away from the pod.

_**Captain goes down with the ship, **_Shepard thought before ejecting Joker's pod.

_**But not today. I just need to hold on until the recovery crew gets here. **_This thought comforted Shepard….until he realized that he was losing oxygen. Shepard struggled to fix the breach, but soon accepted the inevitability of his death. Only one thought when threw his mind as he entered the atmosphere of Alchera.

_**I'm sorry Liara.**_

_**6 HOURS LATER**_

The _SSV St.__Helens _entered the system after picking up the distress call from the _Normandy_ and immediately began S.A.R. operations. They recovered all the escape pods and when they recovered the bridge pod, both JD and Liara were waiting for the Commander to appear….

"JOKER! Where's the Commander?" Asked JD

"He didn't make it….he got me into the pod, but then that huge cruiser attacked again. He didn't have a hope in hell. He was spaced, last I saw him he was losing oxygen. I think he burnt up. Liara….." Joker replied stretching out towards the asari, who was on her knees sobbing.

"Joker, leave her. I'll deal with it. Go get checked out by the doc." JD answered softly.

JD sat down nest to Liara and opened his arms. Liara took the comfort warmly, and they just sat there for a while, before Liara spoke.

"I can't believe he's gone. I love-loved him. And now he is gone."

"I know, you are welcome on my ship Liara. I'm going to find the ship that done this, then introduce it to the might of my spinal cannon!" JD replied.

"Thank you, Jason. I can see why Shepard trusted you with his life."

_SSV St. Helens _Comm. Room.

"Admiral, I don't understand. We know what we saw"

"I know, but we have to make nice with the Council for the moment. So I'm asking you to just tone down this 'Reaper' claims"

"Sir they are not claims! I know what I saw"

"Captain Davenport, this is an order! You will not mention Reapers to anyone who didn't serve with you. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly…sir"

JD left the Comm. Room and ordered his pilot to set a course for the Citadel. He had a very Illusive Man to find…..

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is simply an opening based on the people, which I will be focusing more on in this story. I have a co-writer for this one, which should help me out majorly. Please check out his stories they are amazing. Big shout to William War for taking on a nearly impossible task.


	2. Genesis

Nothing but a routine mission. Why do they say that? Of course its routine. You haven't done anything yet. Of course that's how it started, a routine mission. Answering a distress call. Look where that got me.

We were testing Captain Anderson's ship, the _Normandy_, when the distress call came in. An Alliance patrol on Eden Prime had been attacked. They'd seen something they couldn't explain. And whatever it was, it was _massive!_

I hit the ground with my lieutenants, Kaidan Alenko and Jason Davenport. Kaidan was a good man, loyal, by the book. Jason had been my friend for years, and was one of the most powerful biotics I'd seen. We came across the lone survivor of the patrol, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, a soldier to the core. Tough. Disciplined. Ready to tackle whatever came her way. She and Jason quickly formed a connection. Ashley joined up with us, and quickly took us to the spot where she lost her squad. And that's when we saw it. A ship. Like nothing I'd ever seen. It was massive, scorching the colony and everything around. We followed the path of destruction to an artefact, a beacon left behind by the Protheans, a long dead race. The colony had dug it up. And whoever attacked them had tried to take it. Chief Williams made the mistake of getting to close. It hit her with…some kind of energy. I grabbed her and threw her out of the way, but that's when it hit me instead. Every muscle in my body went rigid. Everything went black. Then I saw something. A vision. A dream…a nightmare. By the time I woke up, we were already on the way to the Citadel on our way to meet the council. I was expected to explain to the Council what I had seen. Anderson came along, so did Udina, Humanity's representative on the Citadel. With those two behind me, it was reasonable to believe we could convince the ship we saw was a potential threat, as was the individual behind the attack. The main suspect for the Eden Prime MASSACRE was a turian spectre named Saren. He'd been seen by one of the survivors of the colony at Eden Prime. And there was evidence to suggest that the ship was connected to Saren. But even Udina's pointed accusations weren't enough to convince the Council. They just couldn't believe one of their chosen elite spectres could be guilty of something like that. They needed proof, which means I needed proof.

Fortunately I wasn't alone in my search. Garrus, another turian, wanted to help. A top agent for Citadel Security, despite orders from his superiors that he shouldn't get involved, he told me he was suspicious of Saren. And he had some useful leads. More importantly he was willing to share them.

That led me to Wrex, the biggest meanest Krogan bounty hunter I'd ever seen. But he was more than just a heavy hitting thug. It was thanks to him that we were in the area to save an energetic little Quarian called Tali'Zorah, who had incriminating evidence against Saren.

Tali was a tech expert with a knack for hacking, she'd…procured some sensitive data on Saren. Evidence that proved Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime.

Tali's evidence finally convinced the Council that Saren was responsible for the devastation on Eden Prime, and that the beast of a ship we saw was actually Saren's flagship. But it went much further than anyone could have imagined. Saren was trying to find a way to bring back sentient race of starships, responsible for wiping out all organic life every 50,000 years. That explained why Saren was after the Beacon, and made some sense outta my visions. We couldn't convince the Council that the Reapers were real, but they agreed that Saren had to be stopped. They stripped his spectre status and gave me the honour of being the first human spectre. They also gave us our first lead. Liara, an asari researcher into the Protheans. Thanks to her ability to meld with me, she was bale to make some more sense out of my vision. But not much. There was something about Liara, which drew me to her. And it wasn't long before I told her how I felt. She felt it too. But we decided that stopping Saren was more important, for the moment. Thanks to Liara, we had our next lead. Benezia, Saren's lieutenant.

Benezia was an asari matriarch, and Liara's mother. I had hoped to talk her out of it, but she refused to stand down. JD engaged her in a biotic duel while the rest of the team took out her accompanying commandoes. Thanks to his biotics, JD was able to discover the location that Saren was heading to: Ilos. However, before we could move in after him, I as sent to Virmire to destroy Saren's base there and extract the Salarians that had been sent in too do the same job. While there I found another beacon, and spoke to Saren's flagship where I realized that it wasn't a Reaper ship, it was an actual Reaper! I blew that base, but not before I had to save JD from being overwhelmed him. We made it with seconds to spare. I found out that the Council had authorized an orbital bombardment of my next location, Feros, but had been decent enough to save an Asari, Shiala, who was able to give me the missing parts of my vision, which Liara used to find out exactly where the relay to Ilos was.

With this knowledge in hand, we set course for Ilos and arrived just seconds behind Saren. After fighting through his Geth, we came up to a Prothean terminal that explained everything. With this knowledge I felt comfortable that I could convince Saren that he was indoctrinated. We made it to the Council chambers with seconds to spare, where Saren shot himself. But he wasn't dead. Saren had been corrupted by Sovereign, and Sovereign tried to assume control again, but before he could, JD crushed him in a biotic field.

The fleet was able to save the Council and the threat was over for now. Thanks to humanity's sacrifice, we were offered a seat on the Council. I backed Captain Anderson for the role. The fact that he didn't want it meant he was perfect for it.

After that everything changed. JD was given his own command, and took Ashley with him. Wrex went back to his homeworld, Garrus accepted a job at C-Sec and Tali went back to the Fleet. But Liara and Kaidan stayed with me, to find a way to stop the Reapers.

Just another routine mission…


	3. Lazarus

_**A/N**__:_ Miranda is already loyal in this fic, as is Jacob. They believe in the goals of Cerberus, not the means. I thought this would work better for where I wanna take this story.

**2183**

"Commander Shepard has been recovered. The Lazarus Project will proceed as planned"

**2185**

White. That's all Shepard saw at first. Slowly he began to take note of what was happening around him. He heard voices.

"Oh my god, Miranda. I think he' waking up!" said a male voice. Shepard didn't recognise it.

"Damn it Wilson. He's not ready yet. Give him the sedative" the woman, who Shepard assumed to be Miranda, said. He tried moving his arm to get her attention, to let her know he was awake, but she gently but forcefully pushed it back down. Shepard was too week to force the issue.

"Shepard, don't try to move. Just lie still, try to remain calm."

"It's not working. We're losing him!"

"Another Dose. Now!"

With that, Shepard began to slip into unconsciousness again. His only thought was of Liara, and had she forgiven him?

"WAKE UP COMMANDER"

The shock of being shouted at, coupled with the shaking of the station, forced Shepard awake, painfully. He first noticed his jaw felt like it was shattered then rebuilt, then as he got up his ribs felt like he had broken them recently.

"Shepard, grab your armour and pistol from the locker"

Shepard moved toward the locker, but found he was unable to put it on.

"Want a hand Shepard?" said a voice from the door.

"Who are you?" Shepard replied.

"I'm disappointed Shepard. I thought you would remember me." Said the voice as he walked into the room.

"Jason! So the Alliance found me then?"

"Not really. This is a Cerberus facility. I work for them now. As does the _St. Helens. _For the last two years-"

"Jason we don't have time for this!" came the woman's voice over loudspeaker

"Miranda, I am in charge of this base. You will follow any and all orders given to you. Is that understood?" Jason replied.

"Of course…Admiral" came the reply.

"Admiral?" Shepard queried

"yeah basically, the Illusive Man has given me the rank of Admiral and placed me in command of this station. Now we have to get you out of here. Miranda, get your gear and prepare to move the ship"

"Aye-Aye"

"Now, you still remember how to fire, right?" Jason joked.

"Better than you"  
"I wouldn't bet on that"

Jason helped Shepard get into his armour and then passed him a S-6 Camiflex.

"This pistol doesn't have a thermal clip Jason."

"How many med-bays do you know carry thermal clips? Your armour's only here so we can measure it against you. You're not meant to be awake for another 3 weeks. But beautifully, I have a spare. Here take this too." With that, Jason handed Shepard a Avenger Assault rifle.

"Don't you need this?"

"No, I still have this" Jason replied, pulling out his HWMA X.

"Now come on, we gotta get off this station."

"Admiral, that container is going to blow. Get into cover now. Shield yourself from the blast."

"Thanks for the warning. Miranda, I'm forwarding you security footage from the _St. Helens_. Now do you believe me?"

"Son of a bitch…yeah I believe you Jason. How do we handle this?"

"How do you think? We get Jacob, kill Wilson and get back to the ship. From there Shepard can talk to the Illusive Twat and we can start this thing."

"…"

With that, Shepard and Jason cut through the station, until they met up with a man in combat armour that bore Cerberus' seal.

"Shepard? Damn. Admiral. What are you doing here?" He asked

"Jacob. I'm doing your job for you. Wilson is a traitor. He's working for the Shadow Broker."

"Shit."

"Let's finish off these mechs then I can fill Mike in properly"

"Ok, we're low on thermals, but I'm a biotic."

"Jacob, little known fact: I'm the 2nd most powerful human biotic in the galaxy. The first is technically insane, so that make me first. Just focus on shooting,"

Jason flared his biotics and caused a singularity to form in the heart of the mech lines, which grew exponentially until all the mech's, were pulled towards it. Then a warp was fired, detonating the singularity and killing the mechs.

"Now then Mike. Ask your questions"

"Where's Liara?"

"How did I know that would be first? She's on Illium. As soon as you're on board, I'll take you to her. She wanted to see you as soon as you were awake anyway."

"If you're with Cerberus, where's Ash-"

"NEXT QUESTION"

"oook…what happened to the _Normandy?"_

"It was attacked by a Collector ship. The _St. Helens _moved in as fast as we could, but didn't get there in time. By the time we got there, the risk of attack was so great that we were ordered out of the area after picking up the pods."

"Why are you with Cerberus?"

"Because the Alliance covered it all up. They ordered me to not talk of the Reaper's, except to those that already knew. Since I wasn't on the _Normandy _anymore, that ruled out nearly everyone other than Ash."

"Ok no more questions."

"Good lets get back to my ship"

"Check. Check. Anyone on this frequency?"

"Do NOT reply. Let him think we are dead."

"I repeat anyone on this frequency?"

"Wilson! Where the hell are you? Shepard is dead! The mechs are everywhere! I can't get away! Get to the Shuttles! That's an order!" Jason replied to Wilson

"Miranda, you get that?"

"Yes Admiral. I'm already on way there."

"Do not kill him till I'm there. I want to do it…personally"

"Understood"

The three man fire team continued there push through the doomed base, eventually reaching the shuttle bay, where they saw Miranda holding Wilson up and gunpoint.

"Ahh Wilson. How much? 5 million? 10? How much did he pay you?"

I don't know what your talking about!"

Jason aimed his rifle at Wilson's shoulder and pulled the trigger.

"ARGHHHHHH!"  
"I'll ask again. How much?"

"I don-ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wilson you have a knee and a shoulder left. Choose wisely"

"Ok, ok. It was 5 million credits to kill you, 5 million to kill Shepard and 5 million to kill Miranda."

"Thank you. Miranda will show to the exit."

Miranda lifted Wilson up with her biotics and threw him over the banister that led into deep space.

"Going down. Ground Floor" Jason joked.

"Admiral, we are in position."

"Understood, _St. Helens. _We are leaving now."

Miranda, Shepard, Jacob and Jason all climbed aboard the Cerberus Kodiak shuttle and flew out to meet the dreadnought.

"Mike, before we go any further, we need to see that your brains intact. Well, what brain you have."

"Bastard. I feel fine"

"Mike, you've been dead for 2 years. Not asleep, or unconscious. Dead"

"Ok. I get it. Ask away"

"Where did you first meet me?"

"Elysium, during a Batarian raid. You attacked with your biotics while I sniped from a tower."

"Ok. Who was the Salarian on Virmire?"

"Which one? There was Captain Kirrahe, Commander Rentola and about 30 others that I don't know"

"Who's Councillor?"

"Assuming nothing has changed, David Anderson"

"Welcome back Shepard."

The Kodiak soared into the hangar bay of the dreadnought, where Miranda saw multiple Alliance coloured fighters.

"Admiral, what's going on? Where are there Alliance fighters here?"

"Because I asked for them from an old friend. Steven, you reading me?"

"Loud and clear. The 5th Fleet is inbound to secure the station. The mech's are powered I take it?"

"Absolutely Admiral Hackett, and the SD mechanism is taken care of."

"Jason what are you doing!" Jacob shouted.

"My job. I'm going to make sure the Alliance believes that they have a mole in their ranks too. When they get close, the base will explode and these fighters will launch."

"Clever. Very Clever"

As the 5th Fleet dropped out of FTL, Lazarus Base exploded and 25 fighters launched from the _St. Helens_.

"Admiral, several fighters have just launched! They are unmanned! What the hell are you doing Steven! The command signals coming from your ship!"

"It's not me. You don't think-"

"Must be! I'm getting out of here!"

The _St. Helens_ built up to FTL and set course for another station. Shepard went down to talk with the Illusive Man.

"Shepard"

"Illusive Man. I thought we would be meeting face to face"

"A necessary precaution, considering what you and I know. How are you feeling?"

"Skip the BS. You brought me back to fight Reapers. Give me a ship and let me go"

"I see Mr. Davenport has already convinced you. Good. It was expensive bringing you back, building you a ship and 'hiding' Jason's task force."

With that the communication broke, and Shepard turned at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Hey Commander, just like old times huh?"

"I can't believe its you Joker" Shepard said while walking to his ship

"Look whose talking. I saw you get spaced." Joker Replied

"Got lucky…with a lot of strings attached. How did you get here?"

"It all fell apart without you Commander. Everything you stirred up, the Council wanted it gone. The team was broken up, records sealed and I was grounded. I couldn't even serve on the _St. Helens._ The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus. I joined about 3 weeks after JD did. He even got his task force with him."

"What happened between him and Ashley?"

"Ahh. They had a disagreement. Ashley accused him of betraying the Alliance, your memory…and her. From what I gather, it ended when Ashley threatened to shoot him."

"I would have let her too, if not for Liara" Jason said, walking around the corner in front of Joker and Shepard.

"Jason, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Your ship's just through that window. I already named her"

Shepard peered through the window and saw the sleek lines, and pointed nose of a frigate, and a powerful one at that. But when the lights came on, Shepard could see the ship in all its glory. And emblazoned on its side, was its name: _Normandy SR-2_.

"It's good to be home, huh Commander?"

"CTF 1, prepare to move out as soon as the _Normandy _is launched. Mike you're not part of my group. You're operating independently of us. I recommend you head to Freedom's Progress first. It's the latest colony to disappear. Take Miranda and Jacob."

"Cerberus stooges? Hell No"

"Not Cerberus Commander, we work for the Admiral." Miranda replied when the doors to the new _Normandy_ opened.

"He showed us just how dark Cerberus is, Commander. And he helped me with my father"

"Miranda, I have 3 teams of N7 marines currently guarding your sister. I also have a private star cruiser about to be 'won' by her parents, so they can leave anytime, without being tracked by Cerberus."

"Thank you Jason. I am grateful"

"Just keep talking to her."

"I will"

"Mike, I'm going to take my ship to Illium. I would meet us there as soon as your done at Freedom's Progress. I have already arranged that we are going to leave Cerberus and join Liara's little group."

"Understood, Admiral. Joker, get us to Freedom's Progress."

"Oh and Mike, check your Armoury and wardrobe. I left you some presents."

Shepard boarded his ship with Joker, Jacob and Miranda, and was introduced to E.D.I., the ships artificial intelligence.

"Shut that thing down! I don't want it on my ship!" Shepard ordered

"Have I offended?" E.D.I asked.

"Shepard spent a great deal of time fighting rogue AI. Geth mostly. Plus that incident with the Hannibal system on Luna. And let's not forget Sovereign."

"Your distrust is logical, Shepard. Unlike the distrust of most humans. However I observe and offer advice. Nothing more." E.D.I. before her blue orb disappeared.

"Jacob and I should head to our stations. Come find us if you have any questions." Miranda said before heading to the elevator. Jacob snapped a crisp salute, before heading to the armoury.

"Well Joker, lets see what she can do. Get us to Freedom's Progress. I'm going to go see what Jason left me"

"Aye-Aye Commander. Should be there in about 9 hours"

Shepard turned from the Galaxy map and headed up to his private quarters. The first thing he noticed was how much faster the elevator was over the old SR-1. The second thing he noticed was how much larger his quarters were compared to the old _Normandy_.

"Jesus…..it's like an apartment in here" Shepard said.

He noticed the wardrobe and made a straight shot for it. When he opened it, he saw a brand new set of Kestrel Assault Armour, in jet black with the N7 logo and the Spectre Logo emblazoned on the chest piece, along with a note from Councillor Anderson:

_Shepard, on the off-chance your alive, this is to formally recognise you as a SPECTRE again. This armour is a present for your new role. I know you're with Cerberus. Stay in the Terminus and I will keep the Alliance off your back. The Council know your working with Cerberus too. They agree about your SPECTRE status. Good luck with what ever you're doing. Anderson._

"Commander, can you come see me in the armoury? I got some new toys for you to play with." Jacob said.

"On my way down."

"Ok Commander, this is X-96 Mattock Heavy Rifle. It's a single shot rifle, but has almost punch as the standard Mantis."

After several hours, Shepard had changed his default loadout to include:

X-96 Mattock Heavy Rifle

S-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle

S-6 Camiflex Hand Cannon

X-22 Eviscerator Shotgun

M-920 Cain

He also had his Kestrel Assault Armour. Miranda had been given medium armour, purely because otherwise she would be forced to wear her standard skin tight jumpsuit into battle.

"Commander, we are 15 minutes out from Freedom's Progress."

"Thanks Joker. Miranda and Jacob, report to the Comm. room.

When Jacob and Miranda arrived, Shepard went over the plan.

"Ok, as you know this colony went missing. Our job is to find out what happened to it. But there may be survivors. So eyes open is that clear?"

"Absolutely Commander" Jacob replied.

"I doubt if anyone is there. No-one was at the other colonies." Miranda added.

"I don't care about the others. They weren't my responsibility. We don't leave this colony until we find out who done, so we can hit them back."

"It's good to have you back Shepard."

"Commander, we're in orbit now." E.D.I. relayed

"Thanks EDI. We're heading down to the Kodiak now."


	4. Freedom's Lost

As Jacob and Miranda made to leave the Comm. room, Shepard called Miranda back.

"Miranda, can I have a word?"

"Of course Commander,"

"I want to know what's going on between you and Jason."

"Nothing Commander. I respect him immensely. For both his actions in seeking out The Illusive Man, for putting a gun next to his head and telling The Illusive Man in no uncertain terms not to fuck with him and for what he did with my sister. Despite anything I may want to start, his heart is taken. And there is nothing I can do about that."

"You want to start something? You better not use him just for some….release."

"No Commander. I feel something for him. I noticed when he saved my sister. One of my-the mercenaries was about to shoot Oriana, my sister, dead. Jason shielded her with his own body, until the merc run out of ammo, and then Jason simply turned around and shot him dead. Jason took 3 shots for my sister Commander. That sort of thing tends to impress a girl."

"I understand Miranda. Thank you."

With that both Shepard and Miranda made their way to the cargo bay.

"Commander, I am Operative O'Connell and I will serve as your shuttle pilot."

"Understood. Now get us down there Operative."

The Kodiak entered the atmosphere of Freedom's Progress and jolted Miranda into Shepard's lap. Shepard merely looked at her with a half grin on his face. Miranda felt that she had to reply.

"It was just an accident Commander"

However that didn't stop the Commander from smiling.

"Stop smiling Dammit"

"Commander, O'Connell here. I'm gonna be setting us down soon. Do you want me to wait for you, or maintain an orbital overwatch?"

"Orbit the area. I assume the shuttle is armed?"

"Yes Commander, we have several small Mass Accelerator cannons mounted on retractable pylons, along with 4 Medusa Launchers that each carry 4 missiles."

"Outstanding, stay above and provide CAS if it's needed."

"Understood Commander"

With that the shuttle landed, and Shepard, Miranda and Jacob departed. Almost immediately the Kodiak took back off and started to hover above them at 255 feet, ready to provide support.

"Come on lets move out. Jacob, directions?" Commander Shepard asked, easily slipping back into the role of leader, as if the last 2 years never happened.

"Commander, the main mess is just ahead. We should see if there is anyone there." Jacob replied consulting his omnitool.

"Understood."

Commander Shepard took the lead, with Miranda in the middle and Jacob bringing up the rear. The door to the mess opened and revealed, nothing but steaming cups of coffee and plates of stew.

"Look's like everyone just got up and left, right in the middle of dinner" Jacob mused.

"Yeah it does, but where did they go?" Shepard replied.

They continued on, entering a large courtyard.

"Strange. No bodies, no structural damage. No sign's of battle." Miranda replied, concern seeping into her voice.

"Miranda, we will find out what happened. I promise you this." Shepard replied, reassuring her.

They opened a large door into another courtyard, where they heard mechanical sounds.

"Hear that? Sounds like FENRIS mechs." Jacob said.

"Lock and load. Miranda, prepare overload. Jacob, pull as many as you can into that crevasse." Shepard ordered and before waiting for a reply dropped to one knee, raised his rifle up to his shoulder aimed where the noise was coming from.

Sure enough, two LOKI mechs raised their heads and their M-6 Shuriken SMG's at Shepard and opened fire. The rounds bounced off of Shepard's shields, before Shepard returned fire with his Mattock, taking one's head off and destroying the chest of the other. Miranda had overloaded a FENRIS mech and Jacob had finished the final LOKI with a shot from his Scimitar.

"Those mech's shouldn't have been hostile. They should have recognised us as human." Jacob said.

"Someone reprogrammed them to attack on site. We're not alone here." Miranda replied.

"Agreed. Keep your eyes open. Shoot first, ask questions later" Shepard ordered, before continuing on. The team passed through a bunkhouse and encountered another LOKI and FENRIS mech before running to something that was all together different from mech's completely.

Quarians. Shepard raised his pistol and the leader of the Quarians raised his rifle. It was a standoff until another Quarian interfered.

"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this!" before turning to Shepard.

"Wait, Shepard?" Tali asked.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives" Prazza said, while trying to get around Tali to get a clear shot at Shepard.

"Put those weapons down!" Tali again ordered.

"Shepard! Is that-your alive?" She asked Shepard.

"Tali, you served on my ship. I don't take threats lightly. I will kill them if they point those guns at my team again. That data…the Geth data…did it help you complete your pilgrimage?"

"Yes it did. Prazza, I mean it, weapons down. This is definitely Commander Shepard. And he will kill you."

"Dammit Tali, this is bullshit! Why would your old Commander work for Cerberus?" Prazza asked, while lowering his rifle.

"Well let's see, this colony has disappeared. As have many others. The Alliance are sat there with their fingers in their ears hoping that if they can't hear it, it will go away. I'm here to find out what the fuck's going on, whose abducting this colonist's and introduce them to why that's a bad idea." Shepard growled at Prazza.

"Wow, that answer's that question" Tali replied.

"Now my turn. Why are Quarians on a human colony?"

"One of our people was here on pilgrimage. Veetor-" Tali started.

"And you guys are to find him. Ok we'll help. He may know what happened here." Shepard replied.

Shepard took his team straight through to where the Quarians had last seen Veetor, while Tali and her team slipped round the back.

"Shepard! Watch your back. There's a squad of security mechs up ahead." Tali radioed through

"Thanks, we'll take care of them" Shepard replied.

Turning to Miranda, Shepard asked her the odd's of Prazza betraying them.

"I would say very likely Commander. We should be prepared for it" She replied.

Within minutes her prediction came true.

"Shepard! Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead! I told them to wait but they wouldn't listen. They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"

"Just as well we expected this then eh, Tali? We are outside the container area. Open the door" Shepard replied.

With that the heavy door into the main loading bay opened and Shepard came face to face with the YMIR, a heavily armed and armoured tank-mech. Within moments it had killed or injured the entire Quarian force, then turned its attention to Shepard.

"That mech has heavy armour plating. Our weapons aint punching through" Jacob said as he took cover behind a concrete barrier.

"Not us, but O'Connell could. Kodiak, you there?"

"Right here Commander. I have eyes on your mech; Medusa's are loaded and ready to fire."

"Then please, be my guest"

The Kodiak fired for Medusa missiles at the mech, shattering it's armour and exposing its main CPU. Shepard took aim with his Mattock and poured every single round into it. It wasn't long before it exploded.

"Miranda, Jacob help Tali with the injured. I'll find Veetor."

Shepard took a step forward into the loading dock, where he found Veetor. After having a conversation with him, Shepard discovered who the enemy was: Collectors

"Miranda, grab Tali and come here" Shepard radioed.

Tali and Miranda arrived and Shepard filled them in. Then Tali took Veetor and Shepard and his team returned to the ship.

"Miranda you have the bridge. I'll be in my quarters." Shepard said.

In his quarters, he grabbed the picture of Liara and just looked at it, her blue skin that he longed to feel. Her lips that he longed to kiss. Before long he started talking to the picture.

"Hey Liara. You have no idea how much I miss you. I wish you were here with me. I need you. There is so much going on that I don't get. I really need you."

Just then he was interrupted by EDI.

"Commander, we can set course for Illium if you wish. We can be there in less than 3 days"

"Do it. I need her. And open a channel to my mother."

"Very well."

On the dreadnought _SSV Orizaba_, Captain Hannah Shepard was in the gym when the message came through.

"Captain, we are receiving a communication from a Cereberus ship. It's identifying itself as the…_Normandy SR-2."_

"WHAT! How DARE those terrorists name a ship after Mike's" Hannah shouted.

"There's more. Apparently, it's under command of…Commander Shepard"

"What!...Put them through.."

"Commander, the channel is established." EDI replied

"Thank you EDI. I want you to cease monitoring my cabin. That means Illusive Twat's bugs."

"Very Well."

"Hi mom."

"Mike? What-How-You died!"

"Yeah, but I got better"

When the _Normandy _arrived at Illium, Shepard had spent the better part of a day informing his mother what happened to him since she last saw him and Jason on the SR-1. So when Joker told him that there were coming into Illium, and they would be docking alongside the _CSV St. Helens_, he was already in a happy mood. The thought of seeing Liara made that happiness 10 times better.

However what he saw when he got to Liara's office made his heart stop. Liara was hugging Jason. And it didn't seem to just be a friendly hug either.

"You Bastard! You knew I was back! Why did you still the only woman I love! Why Jason?" He shouted, tears coming to his eyes.

"Because I didn't. Mike you didn't see her after you died. She nearly followed you. When I say that I would have let Ashley shoot me, if it wasn't for Liara, I mean that I was the only thing stopping her from killing herself. Purely because of our mutual misery." Jason replied calmly, walking towards with Mike with open hands.

"You-She-what?" Shepard replied, still in tears, though they weren't flowing as fast as they were before.

"Michael when you died, I felt it. We are bonded. I feel everything you do. I was dead inside when I lost you. Jason was kind enough to let me stay on his ship. One day I walked into his quarters to discuss an offer I had, to find him staring at the barrel of his pistol. It was then that I realized it wasn't just me that was suffering. I used Jason's ship to…recover your body and gave it to Cerberus" Liara said softly, though her eye's were glistening as well. Shepard grabbed Liara and pushed his lips to her, only to find that Liara pushed back just as much.

"Thank you Liara. For bringing me back. And Jason, I'm sorry" Shepard started before Jason interrupted.

"For what? Missing your future wife? Don't be. I'm pretty sure I would be the same way if…"

"Anyway Liara, there is space on the _Normandy_. Please come back to me." Shepard begged Liara.

"I…would love to Mike, but I can't. I have a rescue mission to plan."

"About that. I know where the base is. I'll hit it for you, and get Feron back, and you can go with Shepard and the _Normandy. _Hell I'm sure if you tell him, he will even come with us." Jason said.

"Yeah, but Liara please. I can't do this without you" Shepard pleaded.

"…..Ok Mike. But we have to rescue Feron. Where will I stay?"

"In my quarters of course."

"Ok then, Mike I've spoken to Liara. We are now both part of your group. SO you may want to change the paint scheme on your ship. Mine's already done." Jason said.

"My group. What do you mean?"

"Well I found out that there was a SPECTRE investigating the disappearance's of several human colonies. So I thought I would help. And Liara is more than capable of providing you with the necessary information." Jason replied.

"But what about The Illusive Twat?"

"I have forwarded his location to Admiral Hackett. He is aware that we are working for you. He is also aware about the trap at Lazarus. Because for the last two years, I have been undercover at Cerberus."

"Jason, you sneaky bastard!"

"I will NEVER work for terrorists!"

"I know. Well then, there is just one more question. Liara, will you marry me?" Shepard asked getting down on one knee.

"Yes!" Liara squealed. She run forward and threw her arms around Mike. Jason slipped back and remembered a conversation he had with Ashley, 3 days before he joined Cerberus.

"_So, how do you feel about marriage" Jason asked. He had the ring in his pocket._

"_Marriage? I'm a soldier, not a housewife." Ashley replied._

"_I don't know. You clean that rifle pretty good." Jason asked to cover up his disappointment._

"_Well yeah, comes with being a soldier. What's this about?" Ashley eyed him curiously._

"_Oh me and Mike were talking about marriage. He thinks that marriage is the ultimate expression of love, and I agree with him" Jason replied pulling out the ring from his pocket_

"_Oh Jason, I didn't mean-" Ashley started, but Jason interrupted her._

"_It's ok. You don't feel the same way I do. I'm on duty now. Get some sleep" Jason replied before leaving for the bridge of the St. Helens._

"Jason? You all there?" Mike asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry. Just thinking about Ash…" Jason replied kicking off the wall.

"Jason, I am sorry about her. I heard what she did. You didn't deserve that." Shepard said.

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's get going, before you two strip each other in public."

"Oh Mike, I want our wedding to be an Asari one, overseen by a Matriarch. Is that ok?" Liara asked as the trio walked back towards the docks.

"Of course my dearest one. Anything for you" Shepard replied, capturing her lips in his, before seeing Jason clench his fists.

"Hey Jason, there are others out there. Take Miranda. She absolutely trusts you. Maybe you should try and move on."

"Maybe…maybe…"

A/N: No he's not bringing up the rear in that sense


End file.
